


The Queen's Treasure

by Velace



Series: Swan Queen Fix-Its [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Implied Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Mild Language, PWP without Porn, Some Humor, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-05 07:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1810924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velace/pseuds/Velace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma travels to the past where she meets the Evil Queen who takes a special interest in her. This is a rewrite of sorts to that horrendous episode, with none of that Captain Swan nonsense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"That's Regina," Emma breathed out softly as she followed her movements through the bushes. That damn book did not do the woman justice. Emma had thought Regina breath taking before, but this was a completely new level of attraction and she was having a difficult time convincing herself not to rush out and jump the woman.

"Not Regina, love; the Evil Queen."

Emma scowled at his voice intruding on her moment of appreciation; she had almost forgotten the unwashed Neanderthal had come through the portal with her. "What the frick ever," she hissed. She wanted to yell at him, to tell him to leave her the hell alone and go find someone else to bother, but she knew that raising her voice was a good way to gain unwanted attention and the last thing she needed was imprisonment with the idiot.

Watching as Regina disappeared back into her carriage, Emma stood from their hiding spot and started through the forest. According to her irritant of a companion, Rumplestiltskin's castle was more than a day's walk from where they were and she wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible.

Bad enough that she had to save the idiot's life and lose her magic, now she was stuck traipsing through fumbuck nowhere –Gods, even her thoughts were becoming PG-13, bloody kids– and everyone wondered why she wanted to go back to New York to escape the colossal pile of weird bullshit her life had become.

"So love-"

"Noooo, no no no." Emma spun on him and clamped her hand over his mouth. Were she not in the foulest mood known to man, she would have found the widening of his eyes to be comical – but she was and it merely served to irritate and gave her rather sickening ideas about plucking them from his face with a rusted fork.

"There will be no talking unless absolutely necessary," she stated, leaving no room for argument as she kept her hand across his mouth. "We find Gold, we figure out how to get home and then you are going to stay the hell away from me because I swear to whatever higher power there is; I am _this_ close to viciously maiming that face you're so deeply in love with."

Thinking her warning sufficient, Emma took back her hand and grimaced as she wiped it against her cloak. When she noticed his lips part in an attempt to speak, she pointed a finger at him. "I will kick you in the balls so hard, the only sounds that will escape your mouth for the remainder of your life are squeaks that only very feminine mice will understand," she threatened and his mouth snapped shut.

With a satisfied smile, she turned her back to him and resumed their walk through trees, sending a glare his way every so often whenever he felt the need to sigh mournfully. Temptation to retrieve one of the many thick branches on the ground and hit him around the head with it was constant and strong, but she resisted the desire – mainly because it would delay them and the thought of dragging him unconscious through the forest sounded exhausting and not in the least bit worth the effort.

Hours passed uneventfully for the most part, putting aside the occasional need to duck out of sight of the Queen's Guard. Killian managed to get himself stuck on a tree at one point and she delighted in having to tear his jacket free. She had the insane thought that it might convince him to find a change of clothes but alas, it simply gave him a brand new reason to whine like a child and annoy her even more with his whimpered muttering about his precious clothes.

By the time night fell, her feet were on the verge of detaching themselves from her legs and burying their own grave to lie down and die in. Fortunately- or unfortunately considering the pirate hadn't been eaten by wolves yet- they came to a clearing not long before the temperature dropped and she set about preparing a fire while he mopped and stared forlornly at the sleeve of his jacket.

Once the wood was burning, she glanced across the fire to him and rolled her eyes before she stood and left him to sulk in peace while she went in search of something to eat. She vaguely remembered the words of her mother when she last came to the Enchanted Forest. _Blue and Red berries are fine, yellow will irritate your stomach and green will kill you very slowly, and painfully; so don't touch them._

She briefly wondered if Killian was knowledgeable enough to know which berries were safe, then whether she could get away with slipping him a few yellow ones as payback for being a pain in her ass the entire trip but she dismissed the thought with a dejected sigh, as an upset stomach would just give him more reason to complain.

"My my, what do we have here?" Emma froze as the familiar drawl reached her ears, the deeper, throatier sound sending delicious tingles all down her spine. She was a sucker for a woman's voice, especially when that woman happened to be the sinfully attractive mother of her son. "My Guards said there was someone sneaking about the forest, but they never mentioned how pleasing a sight that someone was."

Emma swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and took a calming breathe before she turned to face the woman. "Re…" She bit her tongue as she was reminded by the brunette's appearance that this wasn't her Regina.

Correcting her mistake, she curtsied to the best of her abilities and responded, "Your Majesty." While she may not be the smartest person in the world, she had been attentive enough when first spotting the Queen as she threatened those villagers earlier and she kept her gaze firmly on the ground.

"Charming."

Emma's eyes snapped up at the sound of her father's moniker, only to realise the Queen was referring to her behaviour and she felt her cheeks redden, lowering her head and squeezing her eyes shut as her embarrassment amused the woman who released a dark little chuckle that caused her to shift uncomfortably.

"Oh you are delightful," the Queen purred and Emma's breath hitched, the air returning to her lungs in the next moment, almost suffocating as a hand slithered across her hip and she gasped. "Now tell me, my dear; why is a treasure such as yourself keeping such filth for company, hmmm?"

* * *

Regina licked her lips as she waited for a response, her grip tightening on the hip with each passing second. She did not understand why she had an overwhelming desire for this complete stranger, but as her mind taunted her with ideas and vividly detailed scenarios to enact with the woman, her heart pounded violently against her chest. Lust, intense as it ran rampant through her veins had her tugging the blonde against her and the sharp intake of breathe stoked the fire building in the pit of her stomach.

"Come now, dear." She slipped her other hand beneath the woman's cloak, pressing against a hard stomach before sliding up between breasts. A low growl sounded in her throat as the tips of her fingers met slightly chilled flesh and she slowed her pace, guiding them across firm mounds and up a slender neck to wrap around a hardened jaw.

Gripping her chin, Regina tilted the blonde's head back and lowered her voice to a husky whisper. "It was a simple question, sweet thing," she murmured and relished the woman's whimper that followed. "I have a very pleasurable evening in mind for us, but if you don't answer my question, then I'm afraid yours will be more on the side of pain."

She smiled when the woman gave an audible gulp, fingers loosening their hold and gently stroking the side of her face as the blonde finally gained her composure enough to speak. "He is helping me find a way home," she replied and the hoarseness of her voice pooled warmth between the Queen's thighs.

"And where might this _home_ be?"

"Another land, another time." Killian stepped out from behind a tree and Regina snarled at the interruption. "You need to release her, Your Majesty, and you need to let us leave."

Her grip tightened once more and the blonde hissed as nails dug into her flesh. "Now why would I do a thing like that?" She was half-tempted to lash out and choke the life from him, but with no idea how that would affect the woman in her grasp and because she sought a willing body for her bed that night, she strangled the impulse and stared him down instead.

He shrugged casually as he moved closer and the saunter in his step was almost enough for her to unleash her anger upon him, except the body in her arms became a worthwhile distraction as it relaxed against her, the tension that had existed from the start of their interactions; releasing from the blonde's muscles. "Because your happy ending is in jeopardy if you don't."

The words pulled her attention back to him and her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of them. The pirate, however, made no attempt to explain himself before he spoke to the woman. "Swan, she is not the same person here and regardless of your apparent dislike for me, I don't wish any harm to befall you."

A hand shot out of its own accord and lifted him into the air by his throat as the Queen bared her teeth. "You are the only one in danger here," she snapped and flexed her fingers, watching and smirking as his legs kicked the air in his struggle for breath.

"Regina…" Her eyes widened and while hearing her name from the mouth of a commoner was surprising, it was the hands that cupped her cheeks that shocked her and her gaze dropped down to emerald depths she could willingly lose herself in. "I loathe him more than I could ever hope to put into words, but I need him to get home; please don't kill him."

What shocked her even further was the fact she realised she was actually considering this woman's plea for mercy and that, in itself was strange enough that she immediately granted the request and called the magic back to her. Neither of them paid any mind to the pained grunt as the pirate hit the ground and they continued to stare into ones another's eyes; fear, confusion and desire swirling in their respective gazes.

"Who are you?" Regina breathed after a long few seconds and her stomach fluttered as the woman smiled beautifully.

"Emma," she chuckled. "Emma Swan."

Raising her hands to wrap around wrists, Regina pulled the hands away from her face and stepped back. "Pretty name," she said. Glancing to the pirate whose gaze bounced between the two of them, Regina waved a hand and a disoriented man wearing a suit of armour appeared in a puff of smoke. "Claude, escort the Captain here to the palace and should you arrive before morning, make room for him in the dungeon."

"Hey, wait just a minute," Killian shouted and she waved her hand once more, silencing his protests as he found himself suddenly bound, hands behind his back with a gag secured in his mouth.

"Yes, my Queen." Claude bowed before he stormed over to the man and yanked him to his feet, shoving him in the back in the direction of the palace. "Move it, maggot."

Regina chuckled as his muffled shouts continued as they disappeared from sight and she returned her focus to this Emma Swan. She studied the woman for a moment, taking in her appearance before she reached out and fisted her hand in the blonde's cloak. "Now you, my dear; will accompany me to the Palace and you will tell me where you are from, why you are here and how it is you seem to know me when I haven't the slightest clue as to who you are."

* * *

The air left Emma's lungs in a rush as she landed hard on her back, her pulse beating rapidly as she noted the weight on her hips and opened her eyes to find Regina was straddling her waist. Her head spun from the abrupt relocation, senses overwhelmed with the essence of the woman's magic that still swirled around them and she tried to compose herself as she took a cursory glance at their surroundings. She was sprawled in the middle of a bed in what looked to be the Queen's chambers, and that was all she managed to deduce before she felt the hand tugging at the clasp of her cloak.

"What-" A finger pressed to her lips stopped the question before she could finish and she closed her eyes as it began tracing the contours of her mouth. Everything seemed amplified in that moment; the sound of her heart as it pounded against her chest, the scrape of a fingernail as it travelled over her chin, down the slope of her neck and across her collarbone.

"Tell me, Miss Swan." Emma shook her head. It didn't matter what the Queen wanted to know, as the chance of her brain being able to form a single, coherent thought was slim to none and she didn't think she would be capable of answering, regardless of the question.

Her eyes snapped open as she found herself suddenly free of the weight, all contact between them ceasing and she swallowed upon meeting the Queen's glare. She has been on the receiving end of Regina's anger more times than she could count, but combined with the obvious desire, she knew that this time, their clashing would not start nor end when one of them began shouting at the other.

The only time she could ever recall seeing the predatory stare directed her way was the day she took to the Mayor's tree with a chainsaw. Although she had walked from that unscathed, she had a feeling the Evil Queen would be far less merciful than her future self and she remembered the earlier threat of pain being inflicted if she refused to cooperate.

Pushing up onto her elbows, she watched as an eyebrow rose and cleared her throat before attempting to explain. "I uh- I'm not good at the whole multi-tasking thing… I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but you're kind of distracting when you're trying to take my clothes off."

Her face heated with the quirk of plump lips and she averted her gaze, nervously biting her lower lip before a hand grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at the Queen as she spoke. "Then tell me what I want to know and we can get back to the fun part."

Emma gave a disbelieving laugh, knowing that the opportunity would no longer be on the table once Regina found out who she was, but she pushed herself into a seated position and began her tale. She started with the portal and how she, along with Captain Hook, came to be in the Enchanted Forest, leaving out certain details that weren't pertinent to their travelling back through time. She lied about who opened the portal, saying she had no idea who it was as she thought mentioning the woman had a sister that died in order to activate it wouldn't do either of them any favours.

By the time she got around to explaining how she knew the Queen, dread had taken up residency in her stomach. She could see the hate that filled the brunette the second she mentioned Snow White, quick to ease the fury in brown eyes as she told her of the curse she cast that takes them to another land where she finds her happy ending.

"And who are you to me?"

Emma winced; she had drawn the story out as much as she could to avoid having to the answer the question. After a second or two more of silence, she opened her mouth to confess she was the daughter of her enemy. "I… am the mother of your son," she said and both sets of eyes widened.

She hadn't intended to confess that… ever. Though considering the alternative, she had to admit she likely had a much better opportunity of surviving this confession. "I uh," she began, but had no idea what she could possibly add to that and the fact the Evil Queen was gaping at her like a fish out of water wasn't helping in the least.

It was somewhat comical the longer she stared, terrifying, but comical.

"I- we have a son?"

Emma pursed her lips and nodded, releasing the breath she'd been holding when Regina smiled and she could relax once more, at least until her next question.

"Are we married?"

Now Emma was the one imitating a dying fish, she wanted to respond with _hell no_ but even in her flustered state, she still had enough sense to know that would likely end in her being brutally murdered, and also – married to Regina? In her dreams maybe; the woman hated her even on a good day.

"Um… no," she hedged after a long few minutes of Regina, surprisingly, being much more patient when 'Evil' than she was when she was simply being a colossal bitch face. "We are not. We have a thing- not _we_ I mean, in my world- God this is nerve wracking."

She was rambling now and Regina looked as though she found it _endearing_ which was completely fucking weird because _no._ "Adoption… I guess here it'd be kind of like finding a baby floating in a basket along the river? I don't know. I was unable to raise him due to… circumstances; you adopt him when he's three weeks old and he finds me on my twenty-eight birthday. We don't meet until then."

Dark eyes studied her as she spoke and she's surprised at yet another smile directed her way. "We don't get along, do we?" Regina asked and Emma laughed, the sound far too tense.

"Yeah, no." Emma shook her head. "You pretty much hate me- though I guess we sort of have a truce because of Henry."

"Henry? That's our son?" She perked up then and Emma blinked stupidly while nodding an affirmative, it had been awhile since she had heard the brunette refer to Henry as _their_ son and it still sounded oddly heart-warming. "That was my father's name."

"I think you told me that once before," Emma said with a faint smile. She cleared her throat and moved them forward, "So yeah, you curse everyone and realise eighteen years later that it solved nothing, then you adopt a kid and redeem yourself ten years later… a few times, actually, the people of this world are kind of idiots and you get blamed for a lot of shit that isn't even your fault, really."

"How unexpected," Regina drawled and rolled her eyes before she asked, "But I'm happy now? In your world, I'm no longer miserable?"

"I…" She wanted to say yes because the whole situation was awkward as fuck, but at the same time, she had never seen Regina truly happy so what would she know. "I think so? Henry is with you, and you're seeing this… person who has another kid that you adore. I mean, you seem happy."

Her face twisted then and Emma wondered if it was confusion or disgust distorting her features. The former was understandable, and the latter made no sense considering what she had just said, but she couldn't help remembering the look she received a year prior in Neverland when Hook had mentioned their kiss in front of the entire group.

"If we hate each other, why were you so willing to sleep with me?"

Emma blushed. The thought of hate sex popped into her head briefly, but she thought that was more likely to anger the Queen and omitting the whole truth of who she was had been guilt inducing enough that she decided honesty was best. "I never said _I_ hated _you_ ," she admitted softly.

"Ah." Understanding washed over the brunette's face and she grinned, thoroughly confusing Emma who could only stare back at her blankly. "In that case, I'll supply you with a memory potion for when you return home."

Still confused, Emma blinked and questioned, "Uh what?"

"Well dear," Regina spoke as she clamped hands down on Emma's thighs and invaded her space. "We shall take a trip in the morning to see the Dark One, I will unbind your magic and he will, hopefully, provide you with a way home. Until then…" Emma inhaled sharply as the hands moved upward another inch and the Queen smirked. "I believe I promised something in return for you answering my questions, and a gift to my future self of this night wouldn't be complete without the image of you writhing beneath us."

"Oh," Emma breathed in realisation, the exclamation exploding from her mouth as dark eyes and olive skin lunged for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I received requests on FF.NET and caved.
> 
> Enjoy.

Emma could do nothing but stare at the sight before her. She was dreaming, she had to be dreaming because if she wasn't then… Regina Mills—Madam Mayor, former Evil Queen and all around badass—was standing butt nekkid in the middle of Emma Swan's bedroom and _Jesus Christ_ what the hell was going on? Did she hit her head on something? Was she unconscious? Shit, what if she was in a coma and everything that had happened in the last two years was just a dream? Maybe she's still standing on that footpath, staring at that goddess of a woman and this was just the icing on the cake of daydream desserts.

Eyes wide, mouth gaping, Emma was lost—for thoughts, for words, for—shit she had stopped breathing and her throat was burning with the need for air. She sucked in a lungful and it wasn't enough, panic started to overwhelm her as her heart beat murderously against her chest. Fuck, was she about to have a heart attack? What were the signs again? Numbness, tingling – oh there was definite tingling, but that had nothing to do with her heart. Shit.

"If you would release me, perhaps I could conjure an outfit before you have an aneurysm, dear." When Emma failed to comply with her suggestion, Regina released a long-suffering sigh and snapped, "Miss Swan!"

Which was apparently enough of a warning because the magic holding her frozen suddenly released and she almost fell to the floor, not realising she hadn't bothered to leave any attention on remaining upright while Emma stared at her like a succulent piece of meat. Of course, Emma Swan was the Saviour, so even in her less than rational state; she still managed to save Regina from carpet burns and a nasty shock to her knees as she threw out a hand and stopped her descent.

"Sorry," Emma blurted, unthinking as she shot up from her bed and moved to guide Regina down to the mattress. She should probably avert her eyes, at least until Regina magicked herself some clothes and though she doubted that would erase the image of the brunette bare and wet that had been forever imprinted in her mind, she did it anyway—if only out of a belated sense of respect.

"I don't know what happened," she explained without prompting. "I wasn't trying to do anything. I was just thinking about how much fun our lessons were lately, and then I started to wonder why and…" She trailed off because _oh right_ she had been thinking about how attracted to the Mayor she was and remembering their little dalliance in the past and... "Shit."

"Eloquent as ever," Regina drawled, pulling Emma back from the highly unhelpful memory. "I am decent, Miss Swan; you can stop blushing at the wall now."

Emma wanted to mention exactly how decent she found Regina without the clothes, but wisely kept the thought to herself. She turned back to the brunette, taking in the pantsuit Regina wore, and quickly averted her gaze once more when she realised just how _not_ any better that sight was since she now knew what Regina looked like underneath them. Granted, it wasn't the first time she had seen the brunette's body, but already her mind was cataloguing all the minor differences and for fuck sakes, why didn't she just give the woman that goddamned potion.

"Miss Swan…"

"Can we just pretend I'm looking at you and leave it at that," Emma interrupted and though it sounded like a question, it clearly wasn't which annoyed Regina if she were being honest. Why Emma was embarrassed when she had been the one on display in all her high-definition, technicolour glory was unknown to her.

"Fine," she muttered and stood, ready to wave her hand and disappear back to the mansion where she would drown herself in alcohol to forget the nightmare that was this entire uncomfortable situation. She blinked, eyes going to her wrist where slim fingers clasped her in their grip before her face hardened in a glare and she looked up.

"Should we not talk about this?" Emma's voice was soft, pleading and the anger swept out of Regina instantly.

There were a number of reasons for why she could have ended up abducted from her shower and placed in that poor excuse of a bedroom within a loft previously owned by her most hated enemies. Despite that, however, there was only one possible reason behind Emma Swan's reaction and though they could ignore the glaringly obvious, it would only come back to bite them in the ass. So rather than answer with a firm, "Absolutely not," as she wanted to, Regina sighed and returned to her seat at the foot of the bed.

Knowing they needed to talk, and actually knowing how to talk were two very different things though and the following silence only added to both women's discomfort over the whole ordeal. Emma needed assurances that what happened wouldn't complicate things in a bad way—it had taken a painfully long time for Regina to forgive her when she brought Marian back from the past and Emma never wanted to experience that kind of distance between them ever again.

Also the reason she chose not to give Regina the potion, her brain reminded her.

Regina on the other hand, was more concerned about the desire she saw in Emma's eyes. She wasn't blind, she knew there was a mutual attraction there, they had just never spoken of it or even acknowledged their agreement that it existed because that most definitely would alter their relationship and she had found that once her trust in Emma began to rebuild itself, she had come to cherish their budding friendship. She needed more than simple assurance and even if Emma hadn't stopped her from leaving, she knew she would have appeared again and forced them to talk about it a week later when sleep eluded her and she ended up an incoherent mess of babbling confusion. She had questions, so many damn questions and there was no way she would be able to stop thinking about that insufferable feeling of being wanted when Emma looked at her.

When the bed dipped with Emma's weight, Regina glanced from her lap to the blonde and frowned. Emma sat with her head in her hands, back tense as if preparing herself for something. "I didn't know," she muttered and the frown deepened. "If wondering and wanting- I had no idea my magic could even summon another person. I need you teach me better control so that never happens again and then… if you want…"

Regina waited, a flicker of hope igniting within her chest that only succeeded in annoying her. She snuffed the feeling out, a scowl she would wear on the outside with pride under normal circumstances, turned inward at herself. Life had disappointed her enough, she wasn't about to give it another opportunity.

Emma released a heavy breath and straightened. She had expected something in response; a refusal to continue their lessons, a prompt to continue her thought, or even an irritated scoff to cover both. However, the minutes passed with nothing and she could no longer take the silence, so she looked and she would have regretted it had it not been for the emotion warring within the inky depths of Regina's eyes. Her face remained blank, but the walls were too low to hide everything from Emma.

"I've been keeping something from you," she finally admitted because really? How long could she have honestly kept it a secret? Regina had warned her at the time that future her might remember when Emma returned to her own timeline. Three months had passed, but there was never a timetable of when it might happen and if it was going to, surely the time was drawing nearer.

Eyes darted to her, the emotion behind them clear. Regina wanted to yell at her, yet Emma knew she wouldn't. One of the pieces of advice the two had taken to heart during their discussions with Archie was not to act on instinct and instinct had always dictated that Regina would lash out without first allowing Emma to explain.

"I made a promise to you in the past when you agreed to help Killian and I," Emma confessed, unable to stop once she started. "I never told you how we met and you never asked. We didn't really talk about it considering all that happened, but I should have told you the moment I returned."

Sighing as she stood, Emma padded over to her dresser and retrieved the memory potion from the top drawer. Returning to the bed, she held it out to Regina who continued to frown, anger morphing into confusion as she stared at the small blue vial offered to her.

She recognised what it was, there was no doubt when the symbol etched within the glass told her exactly what the vial contained. For the moment, she refused to take it as she looked up at the blonde with accusation in her eyes. "What did you do?"

"Take it," Emma replied, "and you'll find out."

* * *

Days passed and Regina avoided Emma as much as possible, sending her secretary for lunch and coffee so she wouldn't run into her at the diner. She had taken the vial home with her, but her stubborn side had won out thus far and by the end of the week, it remained untouched, sitting on the mantel in her study. She wanted to be furious with Emma for keeping secrets from her, except when she reached for that familiar anger, it never surfaced and instead of that white-hot rage, all she felt was disappointment that came in the form a deep-seated ache in the pit of her stomach.

Left with the weekend and absolutely nothing to do until she returned to work on Monday, she was stuck at home with no reason nor want to venture outside, which meant she was also stuck being tormented by that vial and the curiosity that begged for answers like a peasant begged for spare change. It was pathetic, infuriating and for fuck sakes, she needed to get it over with before she murdered someone.

Moving to the mantel, Regina poured herself a drink and then removed the stopper on the vial. She drank a forgetting potion once, when she first adopted Henry but those memories were restored with the arrival of the Savior and hadn't required a potion. She didn't know what to expect as the liquid burned her throat, but she didn't have to wait long for one memory to return.

_"_ _After three decades, have you grown weak or did you lose sight of why we embraced being the Evil Queen?"_

Regina grimaced and drained the first glass, then poured another before she crossed the room and sat. She hoped no one had caught her talking to herself, though she doubted anyone would have lived to tell of it. Resting her head back against the sofa as she took a shuddered breath, Regina allowed the memory to continue.

_"_ _You forgive our enemy, the woman responsible for our misery and you still deny yourself that same forgiveness?"_

An image flashed within her mind.

_Emma lying on her stomach, a bare back illuminated by moonlight that fell through an open window, eyes closed as she rested her head in sleep atop muscular arms._

Regina remembered the soft rumble that escaped pale lips as Emma slept, a light snore that sounded so much more like a purr and her heart felt oddly warm inside her chest.

_"_ _Two days I have spent in this woman's presence, and already I feel there is something special about her." The Queen paced her chambers as she spoke, a fire dancing within the hearth and casting ominous shadows along the walls. "You are supposed to be happy, Regina and yet the woman who would make it so claims you hate her."_

_With a frustrated growl, the Queen walked to the bed and pulled the furs from Emma's body. "Look at her," she whispered as she stroked a hand down warm flesh that pimpled at her touch. "You had this, you didn't know and I cannot blame you for letting the opportunity go to waste, but you could have this again. Search these new memories, feel what I felt and see what I saw. She loves us. We could wake to this sight every morning for the rest of our life. Stop being a coward; mother was wrong and you know that, you have always known that."_

* * *

Emma lay curled up on her couch, blank stare focused on the television where infomercials were ignored in favour of the thoughts running through her mind. Giving Regina the potion was the right thing to do, she knew that and even if she didn't, the weight that had lifted from her shoulders when Regina finally snatched it from her hand had been telling. She hadn't realised just how much guilt she was holding on to until that moment. It was never her choice to keep that secret, she couldn't- didn't blame the brunette for avoiding her.

She missed her though, something fierce.

Even if Regina was mad, even if the only words she heard from her mouth ever again were caustic and intended to wound her emotionally, Emma would have relished every painful second if it meant not having to settle reliving their past interactions in her head while the loneliness and regret ate away at her. Every waking moment had been pure torture, and since she had to be physically exhausted to be able to shut her mind off long enough to sleep, there were a lot of waking moments to contend with.

Emma groaned and pushed up from the couch, swaying a little as she stood. Lack of sleep, no appetite and a truckload of beer seemed to be taking its toll on her body. Yes it was stupid, yes she would feel horrible in the morning and the thought of looking like that creepy old lady from the diner in Legion was a passing concern, but otherwise, she didn't much care. Collecting the empty bottles gathered on the table, she moved to the kitchen and deposited them into the trash before retrieving another.

On her way back to the couch, she paused at the sound of knocking. Familiar to her somehow, her eyes narrowed and she tried to match the rhythm to a face, but after a minute and warning of a possible headache, she shook her head and dropped unceremoniously to a cushion. It was late, she wasn't in the mood to entertain and her phone hadn't rung at all, so- priorities.

Flicking the bottle cap across the room, the beer _almost_ flew out of her hand when her phone chose its moment with creepy precision and she jumped as it rang - almost. Instead, she had been jolted just enough to soak her shirt and send a plethora of colourful phrasing echoing through the apartment. With a growl, she grabbed her phone and slammed her beer down on the table a little too forcefully.

"What?" she snapped, and promptly froze at voice on the other end.

"Stop wallowing and open the damn door."

Throwing her phone somewhere—the floor most likely—Emma stood up too quickly and swore yet again, stumbling in her haste to do as she was told because the floor had apparently decided to learn how to dance and was in the process of spinning like a ballerina. Stupid floor, she thought with a scowl and yanked open the door.

"Hi," she said, eyes widening the second her stomach lurched.

Regina watched her pivot on her heel with mild concern as she stepped into the apartment and closed the door. Concern that multiplied as the minutes ticked by and Emma still hadn't returned. She decided she had waited long enough around the fifth, draped her coat over a dining chair and went in search of the blonde, finding her on the bathroom floor with arms over a head buried between the knees pressed against her chest.

"Emma?"

The blonde groaned miserably and Regina sighed, realising the scent assaulting her nose was the atrocious dirt water known as beer that Emma preferred to decent alcohol. Lowering herself, she squatted beside Emma and coaxed the turtle from her shell with a gentle hand that she pressed against a clammy forehead.

Emma hummed as the warmth of Regina's magic flowed into her, skin prickling at the intimate feel of it working its way through her. "Oh," she breathed softly, the pounding behind her eyes dwindling down into nothing while her stomach no longer felt as though it were crawling up her throat. "That feels nice."

Not bothering to acknowledge the comment, Regina rose from the floor with far more grace than the supposed Swan and gestured to the sink. "We need to talk and I'd rather not be struck with permanent sympathy for you because of that pathetic look, so clean yourself up and join me in the kitchen when you're ready."

Emma moved before she was even done speaking, feeling a hundred times better than she had all week. Obedience had never been a trait she was known for, but for no longer feeling as though the world were ending and with Regina actually talking to her again, Emma found she was willing to do almost anything for it to continue that way.

Of course, the fact she looked like utter shit helped her decision to suppress any protest her pride may have demanded from her at being told what to do.

Ten minutes later, after cleaning her sympathy inducing face, a thorough mouth rinse, a small battle between her hairbrush and uncooperative hair, and a change from beer-soaked tank to a t-shirt two sizes too big, Emma plopped down on to the stool at the counter. She watched as Regina moved about the kitchen, looking as though she owned the place without once having to ask Emma where anything was and in the blink of an eye, a plate was placed before her filled with every kind of greasy breakfast food that one could think of.

Her mumbled thanks was met with an exasperated sigh, as it was said around a mouthful of food and as she ate, Regina prepared them both coffee before joining Emma at the counter. She had had time to ponder her new memories, not a whole lot since she had only taken the potion hours prior, but enough to decide she only had one question for Emma.

"Why didn't you give me the potion sooner?"

Emma blinked and chewed slowly, reached for her coffee and swallowed before taking a long sip. She expected the question, not to begin with considering all that they did in the Enchanted Forest, but eventually and the fact it was the first had thrown her off for a moment. "I uh… I ruined your life. I thought remembering me, remembering what we did would make it worse and seeing how much pain you were in- you loved Robin and I didn't want to complicate things any more than they already were. I know that it wasn't really my decision to make, but I can't change how it happened or what I did."

Pushing aside her urge to make a snarky comment pertaining to Emma's lack of forethought, Regina considered the words carefully and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. An eyebrow rose in response. "You do realise that if you had given me the potion, I would have known you hadn't meant to hurt me by bringing Marian back. You would never have lost my trust; I put you through hell to earn it back."

"Yeah well," Emma replied with a shrug and glanced down at her plate. "Intentions aside, you still had feelings for Robin. What happened between us, it was new to me - recent. For you, it happened thirty years ago…"

"Emma," Regina sighed. "When you came back from New York, did you feel that a year had passed since you last saw everyone? My mind may remember it happening thirty years ago, but I've only been aware of everything for a few hours. It doesn't feel old, nor does it seem like something that happened in the past; it would have been as new to me as it was to you."

"Oh." Emerald eyes met brown, teeth pulling at a pale lower lip. Regina gave a small smile of encouragement and after a second or two of hesitation, Emma allowed one of her own and asked, "You mean-"

"That I want you," Regina interrupted, smile transforming into a smirk as Emma's eyes widened in response. "That I feel… everything. That I am one hundred percent pissed at you for making me wait three more months than I should have to remember our time together."


End file.
